Antoine Semenyo is back at Newport County as Ghana prepare for the World Cup, eight years after he first caught the eye there on loan from Bristol City with no senior start in professional football. BBC's feature frames him as a £62.5m attacking talent now, but the point of the piece is the route he took to get there. The Newport visit is a reminder of how much ground he has covered.

How Newport saw the early version of Semenyo

Mike Flynn said the moment that changed his view came in a shoulder barge. “You knew he was a special kid. He was raw but we'd already seen he had talent and how good he was off both feet. But in that moment, you knew he was ready. We started him the next game,” he said. Josh Sheehan was even blunter about the level Semenyo showed around the squad: “Strong, fast, ability, almost like a complete forward.”

Mark O'Brien called him “this blank canvas that wanted to learn from everything,” and that fits the picture of a player who arrived with little senior experience but left having made an impression. His final Newport run included an FA Cup win over Leicester and a fourth-round draw at Middlesbrough where he set up Matt Dolan's late leveller.

Why Ghana are leaning on him now

The numbers back up the rise. Semenyo had 17 Premier League appearances in 2025 and scored 7 goals, while also adding 3 FA Cup goals in 5 appearances. He also hit an 8.0 in his recent five-game run, with 3 goals in his last five Manchester City matches.

Jordan Ayew summed up the mood in Ghana's camp. “He's done brilliant. We all know the season he's had. He took his form at Bournemouth to Manchester City and Ghanaians are proud of him and as a team we are proud of him. We just hope that he will keep on doing it - and doing it for Ghana,” the Ghana captain said.

That is where the story is now. Ghana open their Group L campaign against Panama on 2026-06-17, then face England and Croatia, and Semenyo heads into that tournament as one of the players they need to carry form from club level into international football.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →